Youthful Harriers head to the Masters Cross Country Championship
March 4th, 2007Nine youthful Gala Harriers made the journey up to Balbardie Park, Bathgate to compete in the Scottish Nationals Master Cross Country Championship on Saturday 3rd March.
The course on the surface looked quite tame compared to some of the Border’s courses but the runners were to soon find out that the surface was muddy and hard going under foot and the inclines were a little tougher than first imagined.
Sole representative in the ladies race was Karen Haldane who finished strongly in a time of 31.55 to finish 34th out of 75 runners competing in the 2 lap 6.35 KM course.
The men competed over a 9.45 KM 3 lap course with 244 runners lining up at the start which was a record entry for this event. Tony Lunn (41.31) was first harrier home in 105th position, pushed closely from behind by Rob McCrirrick (41.39) who finished 108th. 3rd Harrier Martin Clarke (42.25) was 123rd whilst Malky Gowans (44.55) and David Hunter (45.16) had their own battle finishing in 160th and 166th positions.
Robert McGurn found the going slippy but had an enjoyable run in his road shoes to finish 176th in a time of 45.57. Will McDermott (49.19) was next home in 210th place whilst John Patterson (54.54) saved a sprint for the end to finish 234th.
